Springfield XDM Initial Results

AirForce2 · June 23, 2008, 07:24 PM

Just test fired the XDM .40 Friday and here's my thoughts. Remember this is my gun and yours may not have the exact same thoughts. I plan get back into shooting after 8 year layoff to use for USPSA production class.

Fired 50 rds w/medium backstrap and had 2 jams, one jam was a feed halfway into chamber on the upper barrell throat and actually cut a half moon piece of jacket sliver off the jacket and was sitting in the throat of barrell. The other jam was an ejection jam with a live round in chamber and the clip removed when it happened. I'll smooth out the feed area as I always do on a semi auto.

I have smaller hands so I will put the smaller backstrap on which was easier than replacing the 1911 backstrap since the XDm has no springs to fly across the room.

Accuracy was good out to 25 yds (most in a softball area no prob) but will be replacing front sight with fiber optic front sight and adjustable rear from Dawson Precision.

Likes:
-shoots pretty well and recoil was not bad. I'm sure the PMC 180 gr ammo/powder combo factory stuff can be made much better from a recoil standpoint by reloading my own stuff with say Hodgdon Clays powder or another and still gain the same velocity (from prior exp w/.40)

-Magazines have many holes # marked to tell how many rounds are in the clip so you don't have to guess. It's been a long time since I had such a hard time loading 16 rds into a clip by hand and almost needed the help from the magazine loader that comes with the gun. The mag springs were very tight. I've loaded appx 80,000 rounds between 1990 and 1999 by hand w/o help of a mag reloader in STI 18 rd .40 and 27 rd .38 sup.

-Trigger was good as well as no complaints from the sights other than not the best combo for darker indoor ranges.

-rear grip pad changes a plus to address different hand sizes

-Accuracy good out to 25 yds tested

-Grip and pointability function setups good

Dislikes or preference:
-I prefer a little more roundness on the side of the grip pannels versus the very flat sides

-A full 16 rd clip was near impossible to eject on either mag with only normal thumb pressure from one hand hold. I'm talking after switching the gun in my shooting hand to get good pressure on the button it would not budge. I had to use 2 hands on the gun to support and full thumb bust a nut pressure on mag release button to eject full clips on both from either ambi side. I hope this is a burr on the mag release for it wasn't on the clip that I could tell. It was fine with 15 rds in clip.

-Just so you know as of right now Springfield Cust Service claims this:

---The XD mags/clips "will not" fit/function in the XDm or vise verse
---The form fit XD holsters from springfield and maybe other brands of XD holsters may not fit the XDm gun due to larger outer dimensions of XDM
---The XD magazine pouch will not fit the XDM .40 magazines

The items above will be avail soon per Springfield, but right now the only thing springfield has for the XDM is the magazines in 16 rd only

Thanks
Billy Armour
1997-1999 Air Force Practical Shooting Team
1996 & 1998 Alabama IPSC Section Open Champ

furyfour · June 23, 2008, 07:35 PM

Thanks for the write-up, I'm still toying with the idea of buying one

scorpiusdeus · June 24, 2008, 05:01 PM

Interesting evaluation, but if you don't know the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" I'll take it with a grain of salt.

Don P · June 24, 2008, 05:12 PM

Just for thought, you can try and put upward pressure on the fully loaded mags abse plate while depressing the mag release. This should help the problem you discribed. By doing this you are taking the pressure off the mag release catch. This will work on any pistol that you may have this problem with.

127gr+p+ · June 24, 2008, 05:50 PM

Every XD Ive shot in .40 has jammed.

scorpiusdeus · June 25, 2008, 12:38 PM

I own an XD 5" .40 S&W and never had a jam. To be honest I was never sure if I really liked it. That is until I shot it in USPSA. WOW!!! One of my best shoots ever.

Sturmgewehre · June 25, 2008, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Every XD Ive shot in .40 has jammed.

I raced out and bought the first XD40 my dealer got in years ago. I couldn't have been more disappointed. It would FTF several times a box of 50 using various brands of .40 caliber ball ammo.

I swore it off and decided the XD wasn't for me.

Several years later I had the chance to pick up a bi-tone (stainless slide) XD9 for a good price and figured I would give them another shot. I knew that the gun was originally designed to fire the 9mm cartridge and was re-worked to chamber the .40... and I knew the 9mm's had a sterling reputation for reliability.

My XD9 has been a superb handgun and has been 100% reliable.

AirForce2 · June 25, 2008, 01:13 PM

If you push the mag release button you shouldn't have to pull the mag out with another hand, it should come out of the gun. When I hit the mag button (at least in the 80,000 rds) that I've shot in 10 years, I want the mag to exit the gun whether its empty or full. There is not a time in my life in a real world situation or competition that I should ever have to use "2 hands to brace and full strength thumb" on the mag release button just to get the mag to disconnect. If the mag drags and doesn't fall out is one thing, but I'm talking major pressure here to release. The only justification for a mag to not drop is if you want to pull it out and put it in your pocket to prevent dirt from getting into it ie...a long shootout or for repeat use in military situation so you don't loose your clip.

One thing that may be different on the XDM versus XD is the mag catch (not the button) on the XDM gun handle is located on the front part of the handle instead of the front side corner like most 1911 clips are. Most 1911's the mag catch inside the handle moves left/right to push the mag catch out of the magazines side or front side corner to release. The XDM magazine has the hole on the center front of the magazine so the mag catch actually gets pulled/tilted out. Where are the magazine holes located on the XD? Are they on the front corner or in the front center?

Sturmgewehre · June 25, 2008, 01:17 PM

XD mag:

AirForce2 · June 25, 2008, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the pic. This tells me nothings changed, so wonder if it's just due to the 16 rds and the extra pressure from the fuller mags. I use to use STI mags in .40 w/18 rds and 27 rd .38 Sup and they required more pressure but not like this. I also looked inside the gun handle and felt the mag release ledge in the gun and couldn't feel any burrs or sharp edges to tell me what to fix, it tilts up and out like a see saw out (mainly out) of the hole in the mag. It just feels like the mag button doesnt budge. There doesn'e appear to be much metal on the mag release ledge that goes into the mag to fool with, it's pretty small piece. I also held the clip in the gun and released the mag several times to wear it in and no change. I keep it loaded with 14 rds for now and sometimes it's ok and other times it's still to stiff/catching. The gun ejects mags with 14 rds the way I'd expect it to feel with 16. The ledge in the handle doesn't have much meat on it either. Think I'll give SA a call and I'm sure they'll say "well sir, it does take a lot more pressure on the mag release button if the mags are full by nature". Then I'll say "I mean damn near impossible without putting it on a table and pushing down on the button". Typical luck I have, it probably won't even be noticed or an issue with other people XDM guns. Please let me know if this problem happens on your XDM.

Breakdaddy · June 30, 2008, 01:07 PM

Just some thoughts about my new XDM:
I have cycled over 400 rounds through it at this point with zero fte/ftf thus far. Mixed brands/types, mainly WWB and DoubleTap Gold Dot JHP's (far less of the latter for obvious reasons, just two mags worth, 32 rounds) with some sellier & bellot FMJ mixed in. I like the trigger now that it's smoothing out some, but at first it was more mushy but with less travel than my XD40 service (no malfs from this handgun either with over 2k rounds through it). The springs in the mags are getting worn in a bit at this point and not near as hard to load to capacity as they were at first. I encountered the same issue with the mag release being hard to depress, especially with a loaded mag, but that is starting to work itself out as well (never was a major problem, just annoying). It stinks that the OP has had some malfunctions with the XDM he fired but, luckily for me, I have had nothing but solid performace from mine thus far.

ElectricHellfire · June 30, 2008, 02:10 PM

Good report there. I am never pleased with any firearm that fails to function out of the box. Guns cost enough now days and IMO they should be go to go out of the box. That being said my XDSC40 has never jammed and I still carry it but my father has the exact same pistol and it has a FTF every 100 rounds or so. I like the XD that I have but I doubt I'd ever buy another. My Glocks ALL shoot better and carry easier.

otter7467 · June 30, 2008, 08:17 PM

No issues with mine so far a mixed bag of 250 rounds. My wife has already told me that her next pistol will be a bitone XDM. Almost ready to replace the 1911 at the night stand.

AirForce2 · July 7, 2008, 03:49 PM

I tinkered around with the mag release ledge in the gun, magazine spring, and looked at the slide this weekend and here my thoughts.

-I put a small pointed fine polisher on my dremel at slow speed and buffed the mag release ledge on side corners & top in the gun and also polished the outer and inner ledge of one magazine enough to remove any burrs if there were any and had no noticable results to make me feel good.

-I also cut one of the full coils off the mag and no noticable help. (hope I can get a replacement spring from SA cheap and not have to buy a mag). No help. This was dumb on my part and don't suggest it. There are not enought coils to loose any.

-I then decided to trim the bottom of the plastic follower in the test mag to gain some crunch room and have not tried it yet in the other mag with new spring yet. (still testing)

-I tried another test: I took a non modified new clip of the 2 I have and ensured with 15 or 16 rds that mag eject still sucked, then removed the slide and the mag drops easy as pie. I don't have another gun to compare brand or 1911, but I think the amount of pressure a full 16 rd mag puts upward against the bottom of the slide is the main problem. As the slide goes forward against a new shell to load, the amount of meat on the bottom middle part of slide that pushes the bullet from mag into barrell seems pretty deep (the bottom is appx into or close to the primer area).

I think there is to much upward pressure to bottom of slide from a full mag. The mags take quite a bit of force to insert than I think is needed. I can't shave an 1/8 inch without machinery I don't have. I hope this won't be a problem in competition of production class since it's 10 rds allowed only but I'd hate to have 15-17 rds in the gun and have to do a mag change due to malfunc in limited or life scenario.

dave421 · July 7, 2008, 05:54 PM

Ok, you're trying to fix something that IS NOT A PROBLEM! Stop messing with the gun and just shoot it. Most guns are more difficult to release a full mag than they are with an empty one. It doesn't matter though because there is NO REASON to drop a full mag 95% of the time.

As things wear in more & your mag springs relax slightly, it will become easier. Don't touch anything else. I can't imagine doing something like "polishing" the mag release/catch on a gun that I just bought. I really hope that does not prove to be a mistake in the future.

AirForce2 · July 9, 2008, 02:01 PM

Now why did you reply that way to what is good information on my part that may be helpful to others and to people who may have this problem.

Apparently you did not read my posts in detail enough. I could spend time telling you my shooting skills and resume items in great detail and extent but I'll just summarize a few.

1)There is a big difference between "a little hard to eject a full mag" versus what I stated "near impossible with one thumb and hand". I've competed in USPSA for 10 years in revolver, open, and limited and won several high placements in A class Area and state matches, helped teach and demo'd for Air Force Special Forces groups, local sheriff depts, military police work myself and one of 3 reps for the entire Air Force practical shooting team in late 90's.

2)There is never a time in my life competing or real life that I would ever want to hit a mag release button with one thumb and not have the mag eject. The only time that should ever be a consideration is if your goal and the guns "design" is to keep the mag from getting dirty by hitting the ground or to make recovery of the spent mag for saving later ie..military.

3)If Springfield and other companies would do the same type of testing on the product like I am, this wouldn't be an issue now. You also can't compare a 12 or 14 rd 9mm xd with the XDM because the longer XDM .40 with 16 rds in design could be much worse than the orig XD 12 rd .40.

Just like someone suggested "you can just push up on the mag and then hit the button" to release it is not the desired design on how a mag should eject.

ElectricHellfire · July 9, 2008, 02:33 PM

Most of my handgun mags are hard to release when fully loaded. That includes XDs, Glocks, Rugers pretty much everything. It usually takes a re-position of the hand and a firm press to get it to drop. Im not so sure thats fixable without making the mag release too loose to where it falls out at the slightest touch.

dave421 · July 9, 2008, 07:44 PM

Sorry but I don't really care about your resume. You're talking about having a problem releasing a full mag. Nothing about an empty mag or partially empty/full mag. EVERY semi-auto that I've ever bought new or tried new was a good bit more difficult to release a full mag than an empty one. I care about how the mag releases when it's empty or nearly so as that's when it matters. I think that applies to 99% of most serious gun owners as well.

If it takes you 2 hands to release the mag then there's a problem. Either you're simply doing something wrong, you have weak hands/thumbs, or the gun is defective and should have gone back to the manufacturer. With your "resume" & Springfield's excellent customer service, I can't think of a reason why you couldn't spot a defective gun and then choose not to send it back or at least contact the company.

If you're trying to help other people out then you're doing it wrong. There's a LOT of new shooters on this forum. The last thing they need to do is to read your post and say "Hey, my mag is kind of difficult to release when it's full too! Where's my dremel?!"

I'm sorry if you didn't like my response but I think it was perfectly reasonable. You're trying to "fix" something that likely is not a problem. If it is a problem then you're making the problem worse (by your own statements) rather than working with the company to get it corrected. This isn't some 15 year old gun that you picked up in a pawn shop. It's brand new and the company has excellent customer service. Had you started there to begin with rather than cutting springs & removing material then you would be better off than you are now. If you had simply run a couple hundred rounds through the gun then you would also know whether it's actually a problem or not as well and you would be better off than you are now. You haven't been "into" guns in 8 years so who knows how long it's been since you tried the mag release on a new gun. You have years of experience and championships yet you refer to mags as "clips" which makes me (and others I'm sure) question whether you are who you say or just a newb trying to fit in. You apparently ran a total of 50 rounds through the gun before deciding that the mag release, catch, or magazine itself is faulty while you should have realized (especially with that much experience) that all mag releases are stiffer when new as is everything else that is spring operated on a pistol. Break the gun in or send the gun in but please just quit messing with it.

bojack2575 · July 9, 2008, 11:58 PM

I am new to this forum, but certainly not new to firearms. I just purchased a XDM all black. I shot a couple of boxes threw it before I left the gun shop where I got it and I must say I am very pleased with it so far. Did not have one hiccup out of 100 rounds, it shot true, and feels really great.

I have to agree with Dave- You don't have a problem Yea it is a little harder to release the mag when it has 16 rounds in it, but that's not any different then any other pistol I have owned when the mag is fully loaded. In what real world situation would you need to drop a fully loaded mag with one hand? Just curious.

bojack2575 · July 10, 2008, 11:27 AM

AirForce2 I may owe you an apology. I didn't think I could drop a fully loaded mag out of my XDM with just one hand by pushing on the mag release with my thumb, but I tried it and I could do it with no problem several times. So maybe your gun does have a problem.

Sorry,

bojack2575

AirForce2 · July 18, 2008, 04:18 PM

So you guys know I had already been on phone with SA Custom shop prior to my tinkering and worked out to return the gun for them to look at. SA said "we have noticed a full clip is a little harder to eject than we would like" just like I thought they would and I mentioned a full clip in mine is near impossible with one hand/thumb. I told them I'd been shooting IPSC for years including occasional glocks which never were this hard. They repair guy said he could tool the ejector in the gun to make it reasonable without sacrificing ability to retain the mag. Realize that I'm not to concerned about the gun jams since I feel any gun should have a few hundred rounds to smooth out. One gun jam was with one round in the chamber and the clip removed which I did just to see if extractor held round tightly with no pressure from the clip below.

After shooting for years I've always enjoyed analyzing a problem myself to some extent to see if I can determine where the problem might lie rather than just shipping it off each time I have an issue. Over the years this has prevented much more down time or multiple sendbacks to try one thing then another. I have messed up very few things and nothing other than minor stuff and had spare parts to toy with but majority of the time I either have a good idea or fix it myself. Most IPSC folks who shoot for years wind up doing a lot of tuning themselves after a while for the same reason.

I hope that my gun is an extreme case of the unable to eject a full or 15 rd clip. I know a full clip will always be harder to eject, but needing to use 2 hands and 2 thumbs pressure to eject any clip is incorrect full or not. Please post here only if have this problem with the XDM since the XD is not the same gun and likely did not have ability to carry 16 rds w/standard clip. I should have the XDM in a week to 2 and will give an update.

I've also heard the front sight is very hard to replace front sight with fiber optic and compared to most 1911's is near impossible to do at home w/punch. Anyone heard of this? Crap should have had SA do it while they had the gun.

AirForce2 · July 18, 2008, 04:43 PM

So you guys know I had already been on phone with SA Custom shop prior to my tinkering and worked out to return the gun for them to look at. SA said "we have noticed a full clip is a little harder to eject than we would like" just like I thought they would and I mentioned a full clip in mine is near impossible with one hand/thumb. I told them I'd been shooting IPSC for years including occasional glocks which never were this hard. They repair guy said he could tool the ejector in the gun to make it reasonable without sacrificing ability to retain the mag. Realize that I'm not to concerned about the gun jams since I feel any gun should have a few hundred rounds to smooth out. One gun jam was with one round in the chamber and the clip removed which I did just to see if extractor held round tightly with no pressure from the clip below.

After shooting for years I've always enjoyed analyzing a problem myself to some extent to see if I can determine where the problem might lie rather than just shipping it off each time I have an issue. Over the years this has prevented much more down time or multiple sendbacks to try one thing then another. I have messed up very few things and nothing other than minor stuff and had spare parts to toy with but majority of the time I either have a good idea or fix it myself. Most IPSC folks who shoot for years wind up doing a lot of tuning themselves after a while for the same reason.

I hope that my gun is an extreme case of the unable to eject a full or 15 rd clip. I know a full clip will always be harder to eject, but needing to use 2 hands and 2 thumbs pressure to eject any clip is incorrect full or not. Please post here only if have this problem with the XDM since the XD is not the same gun and likely did not have ability to carry 16 rds w/standard clip. I should have the XDM in a week to 2 and will give an update.

I've also heard the front sight is very hard to replace front sight with fiber optic and compared to most 1911's is near impossible to do at home w/punch. Anyone heard of this? Crap should have had SA do it while they had the gun.

MisterWilson · July 18, 2008, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Interesting evaluation, but if you don't know the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" I'll take it with a grain of salt.

Quit being so pretentious.

The whole snooty "magazine vs clip" BS is played out already. Get over yourself mister self appointed gun-lingo authority figure.

WVfishguy · July 20, 2008, 01:28 PM

I know I'm a few days late on this thread, but I did not want to post until I did my own research.

I recently bought an XDM in .40. I've only fired 100 rounds out of it.

I was going to write a short range report, but my experience with the XDM is so similar to that of AirForce 2, there's really no point in rehashing everything he wrote.

My XDM had the same issue with releasing the mag with 16 rounds; it was very difficult to get the mag to drop. I have very strong (but arthritic) fingers, but I really had to work to get the mag out.

However, each time I worked the mag release button, it got easier. After only 10 times, it became much easier to release a full mag. After about 15-20 releases, it is now quite acceptable.

This problem, at least in MY gun, was simply a "break-in period" issue.

This is the first time I've seen a magazine so hard to release. I filled my other semi-autos to capacity to see if their mags were hard to eject. None were.

The other pistols are:
Bersa Thunder .40, 13 round

Walther PPS, (9mm) 8 round

Steyr M40-A1, 12 and 10 round

Smith & Wesson SW40GVE, 14 rounds

Bersa 380, Series 95, 8 round

Walther P99 AS, (.40 S&W) 12 round

Afterthought: I hope I don't make anyone mad (I probably will

) but I'm developing a bad habit of saying "clip" when I mean "magazine."

If you're are around a bunch of gun people, they WILL make fun of you.

AirForce2 · August 23, 2008, 11:09 AM

Got the gun back from springfield pretty quick but been to busy to post. The mag eject problem has gone away and the xdm acts as it should now. I talked to the tech that worked on it and asked him if only worked on mag eject connect/disconnet ledge and he said that was all he did. The upward pressure to install the mag was also reduced to a normal level. I initially thought maybe they had thinner springs in mags but just the work on the mag eject angle fixed both the "hard to eject full mag" and also "hard reloading a full mag" problem. Good job by springfield. I was worried since the last time I shot a springfield "out of country design" was in early 90's with a P-9 .40 which broke slidestops, extractor housing pins, and made my brass once fire only since the barrells were not fully supported. I loved the handling of the P-9, now EAA witness style but after talking with a VP and seeing forum discussions feel EAA is not good at promoting their gun and gave me no comfort in product reliability or customer service so I went to springfield. I also has SA install the Dawson adjustable front/rear fiber optic sights and looks good, but the front sight is real snaggy out of the holster.

June 23, 2008, 07:24 PM	#1
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Springfield XDM Initial Results Just test fired the XDM .40 Friday and here's my thoughts. Remember this is my gun and yours may not have the exact same thoughts. I plan get back into shooting after 8 year layoff to use for USPSA production class. Fired 50 rds w/medium backstrap and had 2 jams, one jam was a feed halfway into chamber on the upper barrell throat and actually cut a half moon piece of jacket sliver off the jacket and was sitting in the throat of barrell. The other jam was an ejection jam with a live round in chamber and the clip removed when it happened. I'll smooth out the feed area as I always do on a semi auto. I have smaller hands so I will put the smaller backstrap on which was easier than replacing the 1911 backstrap since the XDm has no springs to fly across the room. Accuracy was good out to 25 yds (most in a softball area no prob) but will be replacing front sight with fiber optic front sight and adjustable rear from Dawson Precision. Likes: -shoots pretty well and recoil was not bad. I'm sure the PMC 180 gr ammo/powder combo factory stuff can be made much better from a recoil standpoint by reloading my own stuff with say Hodgdon Clays powder or another and still gain the same velocity (from prior exp w/.40) -Magazines have many holes # marked to tell how many rounds are in the clip so you don't have to guess. It's been a long time since I had such a hard time loading 16 rds into a clip by hand and almost needed the help from the magazine loader that comes with the gun. The mag springs were very tight. I've loaded appx 80,000 rounds between 1990 and 1999 by hand w/o help of a mag reloader in STI 18 rd .40 and 27 rd .38 sup. -Trigger was good as well as no complaints from the sights other than not the best combo for darker indoor ranges. -rear grip pad changes a plus to address different hand sizes -Accuracy good out to 25 yds tested -Grip and pointability function setups good Dislikes or preference: -I prefer a little more roundness on the side of the grip pannels versus the very flat sides -A full 16 rd clip was near impossible to eject on either mag with only normal thumb pressure from one hand hold. I'm talking after switching the gun in my shooting hand to get good pressure on the button it would not budge. I had to use 2 hands on the gun to support and full thumb bust a nut pressure on mag release button to eject full clips on both from either ambi side. I hope this is a burr on the mag release for it wasn't on the clip that I could tell. It was fine with 15 rds in clip. -Just so you know as of right now Springfield Cust Service claims this: ---The XD mags/clips "will not" fit/function in the XDm or vise verse ---The form fit XD holsters from springfield and maybe other brands of XD holsters may not fit the XDm gun due to larger outer dimensions of XDM ---The XD magazine pouch will not fit the XDM .40 magazines The items above will be avail soon per Springfield, but right now the only thing springfield has for the XDM is the magazines in 16 rd only Thanks Billy Armour 1997-1999 Air Force Practical Shooting Team 1996 & 1998 Alabama IPSC Section Open Champ

June 23, 2008, 07:35 PM	#2
furyfour Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 241	Thanks for the write-up, I'm still toying with the idea of buying one __________________ A man who would trade liberty for security deserves neither.

June 24, 2008, 05:12 PM	#4
Don P Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 2005 Location: Swamp dweller Posts: 6,187	XD Info Just for thought, you can try and put upward pressure on the fully loaded mags abse plate while depressing the mag release. This should help the problem you discribed. By doing this you are taking the pressure off the mag release catch. This will work on any pistol that you may have this problem with. __________________ *NRA Life Member, NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor,, USPSA & Steel Challange NROI Range Officer, ICORE Range Officer, ,MAG 40 Graduate* *As you are, I once was, As I am, You will be.*

June 24, 2008, 05:50 PM	#5
127gr+p+ Member Join Date: March 20, 2008 Location: Cleveland, OH. The Danger Zone Posts: 62	Every XD Ive shot in .40 has jammed. __________________ THE ROOTS OF GUN CONTROL STEM FROM RACISM. Don't be alarmed, I'm a black man with a gun. My Blog.

June 25, 2008, 01:13 PM	#8
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Magazine won't eject If you push the mag release button you shouldn't have to pull the mag out with another hand, it should come out of the gun. When I hit the mag button (at least in the 80,000 rds) that I've shot in 10 years, I want the mag to exit the gun whether its empty or full. There is not a time in my life in a real world situation or competition that I should ever have to use "2 hands to brace and full strength thumb" on the mag release button just to get the mag to disconnect. If the mag drags and doesn't fall out is one thing, but I'm talking major pressure here to release. The only justification for a mag to not drop is if you want to pull it out and put it in your pocket to prevent dirt from getting into it ie...a long shootout or for repeat use in military situation so you don't loose your clip. One thing that may be different on the XDM versus XD is the mag catch (not the button) on the XDM gun handle is located on the front part of the handle instead of the front side corner like most 1911 clips are. Most 1911's the mag catch inside the handle moves left/right to push the mag catch out of the magazines side or front side corner to release. The XDM magazine has the hole on the center front of the magazine so the mag catch actually gets pulled/tilted out. Where are the magazine holes located on the XD? Are they on the front corner or in the front center?

June 24, 2008, 05:01 PM	#3
scorpiusdeus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2007 Location: Ventura County, CA Posts: 300	Interesting evaluation, but if you don't know the difference between a "clip" and a "magazine" I'll take it with a grain of salt.

June 25, 2008, 12:38 PM	#6
scorpiusdeus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2007 Location: Ventura County, CA Posts: 300	I own an XD 5" .40 S&W and never had a jam. To be honest I was never sure if I really liked it. That is until I shot it in USPSA. WOW!!! One of my best shoots ever.

June 25, 2008, 01:17 PM	#9
Sturmgewehre Senior Member Join Date: December 12, 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 4,212	XD mag: __________________ Visit my YouTube channel for reviews, tests and more. Ex Mea Sententia

June 25, 2008, 02:17 PM	#10
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Thanks, hmmmm Thanks for the pic. This tells me nothings changed, so wonder if it's just due to the 16 rds and the extra pressure from the fuller mags. I use to use STI mags in .40 w/18 rds and 27 rd .38 Sup and they required more pressure but not like this. I also looked inside the gun handle and felt the mag release ledge in the gun and couldn't feel any burrs or sharp edges to tell me what to fix, it tilts up and out like a see saw out (mainly out) of the hole in the mag. It just feels like the mag button doesnt budge. There doesn'e appear to be much metal on the mag release ledge that goes into the mag to fool with, it's pretty small piece. I also held the clip in the gun and released the mag several times to wear it in and no change. I keep it loaded with 14 rds for now and sometimes it's ok and other times it's still to stiff/catching. The gun ejects mags with 14 rds the way I'd expect it to feel with 16. The ledge in the handle doesn't have much meat on it either. Think I'll give SA a call and I'm sure they'll say "well sir, it does take a lot more pressure on the mag release button if the mags are full by nature". Then I'll say "I mean damn near impossible without putting it on a table and pushing down on the button". Typical luck I have, it probably won't even be noticed or an issue with other people XDM guns. Please let me know if this problem happens on your XDM.

June 30, 2008, 01:07 PM	#11
Breakdaddy Member Join Date: February 20, 2007 Posts: 89	Just some thoughts about my new XDM: I have cycled over 400 rounds through it at this point with zero fte/ftf thus far. Mixed brands/types, mainly WWB and DoubleTap Gold Dot JHP's (far less of the latter for obvious reasons, just two mags worth, 32 rounds) with some sellier & bellot FMJ mixed in. I like the trigger now that it's smoothing out some, but at first it was more mushy but with less travel than my XD40 service (no malfs from this handgun either with over 2k rounds through it). The springs in the mags are getting worn in a bit at this point and not near as hard to load to capacity as they were at first. I encountered the same issue with the mag release being hard to depress, especially with a loaded mag, but that is starting to work itself out as well (never was a major problem, just annoying). It stinks that the OP has had some malfunctions with the XDM he fired but, luckily for me, I have had nothing but solid performace from mine thus far.

June 30, 2008, 02:10 PM	#12
ElectricHellfire Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: The Woodlands, Texas Posts: 2,271	Good report there. I am never pleased with any firearm that fails to function out of the box. Guns cost enough now days and IMO they should be go to go out of the box. That being said my XDSC40 has never jammed and I still carry it but my father has the exact same pistol and it has a FTF every 100 rounds or so. I like the XD that I have but I doubt I'd ever buy another. My Glocks ALL shoot better and carry easier. __________________ *Texas, the only State to Have Ever Kicked Another Country's Butt*

June 30, 2008, 08:17 PM	#13
otter7467 Member Join Date: June 10, 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 18	No issues with mine so far a mixed bag of 250 rounds. My wife has already told me that her next pistol will be a bitone XDM. Almost ready to replace the 1911 at the night stand.

July 7, 2008, 03:49 PM	#14
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Mag release update info I tinkered around with the mag release ledge in the gun, magazine spring, and looked at the slide this weekend and here my thoughts. -I put a small pointed fine polisher on my dremel at slow speed and buffed the mag release ledge on side corners & top in the gun and also polished the outer and inner ledge of one magazine enough to remove any burrs if there were any and had no noticable results to make me feel good. -I also cut one of the full coils off the mag and no noticable help. (hope I can get a replacement spring from SA cheap and not have to buy a mag). No help. This was dumb on my part and don't suggest it. There are not enought coils to loose any. -I then decided to trim the bottom of the plastic follower in the test mag to gain some crunch room and have not tried it yet in the other mag with new spring yet. (still testing) -I tried another test: I took a non modified new clip of the 2 I have and ensured with 15 or 16 rds that mag eject still sucked, then removed the slide and the mag drops easy as pie. I don't have another gun to compare brand or 1911, but I think the amount of pressure a full 16 rd mag puts upward against the bottom of the slide is the main problem. As the slide goes forward against a new shell to load, the amount of meat on the bottom middle part of slide that pushes the bullet from mag into barrell seems pretty deep (the bottom is appx into or close to the primer area). I think there is to much upward pressure to bottom of slide from a full mag. The mags take quite a bit of force to insert than I think is needed. I can't shave an 1/8 inch without machinery I don't have. I hope this won't be a problem in competition of production class since it's 10 rds allowed only but I'd hate to have 15-17 rds in the gun and have to do a mag change due to malfunc in limited or life scenario.

July 7, 2008, 05:54 PM	#15
dave421 Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Posts: 510	Ok, you're trying to fix something that IS NOT A PROBLEM! Stop messing with the gun and just shoot it. Most guns are more difficult to release a full mag than they are with an empty one. It doesn't matter though because there is NO REASON to drop a full mag 95% of the time. As things wear in more & your mag springs relax slightly, it will become easier. Don't touch anything else. I can't imagine doing something like "polishing" the mag release/catch on a gun that I just bought. I really hope that does not prove to be a mistake in the future.

July 9, 2008, 02:01 PM	#16
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Retort Now why did you reply that way to what is good information on my part that may be helpful to others and to people who may have this problem. Apparently you did not read my posts in detail enough. I could spend time telling you my shooting skills and resume items in great detail and extent but I'll just summarize a few. 1)There is a big difference between "a little hard to eject a full mag" versus what I stated "near impossible with one thumb and hand". I've competed in USPSA for 10 years in revolver, open, and limited and won several high placements in A class Area and state matches, helped teach and demo'd for Air Force Special Forces groups, local sheriff depts, military police work myself and one of 3 reps for the entire Air Force practical shooting team in late 90's. 2)There is never a time in my life competing or real life that I would ever want to hit a mag release button with one thumb and not have the mag eject. The only time that should ever be a consideration is if your goal and the guns "design" is to keep the mag from getting dirty by hitting the ground or to make recovery of the spent mag for saving later ie..military. 3)If Springfield and other companies would do the same type of testing on the product like I am, this wouldn't be an issue now. You also can't compare a 12 or 14 rd 9mm xd with the XDM because the longer XDM .40 with 16 rds in design could be much worse than the orig XD 12 rd .40. Just like someone suggested "you can just push up on the mag and then hit the button" to release it is not the desired design on how a mag should eject.

July 9, 2008, 02:33 PM	#17
ElectricHellfire Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: The Woodlands, Texas Posts: 2,271	Most of my handgun mags are hard to release when fully loaded. That includes XDs, Glocks, Rugers pretty much everything. It usually takes a re-position of the hand and a firm press to get it to drop. Im not so sure thats fixable without making the mag release too loose to where it falls out at the slightest touch. __________________ *Texas, the only State to Have Ever Kicked Another Country's Butt*

July 9, 2008, 07:44 PM	#18
dave421 Senior Member Join Date: November 23, 2006 Posts: 510	Sorry but I don't really care about your resume. You're talking about having a problem releasing a full mag. Nothing about an empty mag or partially empty/full mag. EVERY semi-auto that I've ever bought new or tried new was a good bit more difficult to release a full mag than an empty one. I care about how the mag releases when it's empty or nearly so as that's when it matters. I think that applies to 99% of most serious gun owners as well. If it takes you 2 hands to release the mag then there's a problem. Either you're simply doing something wrong, you have weak hands/thumbs, or the gun is defective and should have gone back to the manufacturer. With your "resume" & Springfield's excellent customer service, I can't think of a reason why you couldn't spot a defective gun and then choose not to send it back or at least contact the company. If you're trying to help other people out then you're doing it wrong. There's a LOT of new shooters on this forum. The last thing they need to do is to read your post and say "Hey, my mag is kind of difficult to release when it's full too! Where's my dremel?!" I'm sorry if you didn't like my response but I think it was perfectly reasonable. You're trying to "fix" something that likely is not a problem. If it is a problem then you're making the problem worse (by your own statements) rather than working with the company to get it corrected. This isn't some 15 year old gun that you picked up in a pawn shop. It's brand new and the company has excellent customer service. Had you started there to begin with rather than cutting springs & removing material then you would be better off than you are now. If you had simply run a couple hundred rounds through the gun then you would also know whether it's actually a problem or not as well and you would be better off than you are now. You haven't been "into" guns in 8 years so who knows how long it's been since you tried the mag release on a new gun. You have years of experience and championships yet you refer to mags as "clips" which makes me (and others I'm sure) question whether you are who you say or just a newb trying to fit in. You apparently ran a total of 50 rounds through the gun before deciding that the mag release, catch, or magazine itself is faulty while you should have realized (especially with that much experience) that all mag releases are stiffer when new as is everything else that is spring operated on a pistol. Break the gun in or send the gun in but please just quit messing with it.

July 9, 2008, 11:58 PM	#19
bojack2575 Junior member Join Date: July 9, 2008 Location: South Carolina Posts: 457	XDM Mags I am new to this forum, but certainly not new to firearms. I just purchased a XDM all black. I shot a couple of boxes threw it before I left the gun shop where I got it and I must say I am very pleased with it so far. Did not have one hiccup out of 100 rounds, it shot true, and feels really great. I have to agree with Dave- You don't have a problem Yea it is a little harder to release the mag when it has 16 rounds in it, but that's not any different then any other pistol I have owned when the mag is fully loaded. In what real world situation would you need to drop a fully loaded mag with one hand? Just curious.

July 10, 2008, 11:27 AM	#20
bojack2575 Junior member Join Date: July 9, 2008 Location: South Carolina Posts: 457	I may be wrong! AirForce2 I may owe you an apology. I didn't think I could drop a fully loaded mag out of my XDM with just one hand by pushing on the mag release with my thumb, but I tried it and I could do it with no problem several times. So maybe your gun does have a problem. Sorry, bojack2575

July 18, 2008, 04:18 PM	#21
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Clip/Mag Release So you guys know I had already been on phone with SA Custom shop prior to my tinkering and worked out to return the gun for them to look at. SA said "we have noticed a full clip is a little harder to eject than we would like" just like I thought they would and I mentioned a full clip in mine is near impossible with one hand/thumb. I told them I'd been shooting IPSC for years including occasional glocks which never were this hard. They repair guy said he could tool the ejector in the gun to make it reasonable without sacrificing ability to retain the mag. Realize that I'm not to concerned about the gun jams since I feel any gun should have a few hundred rounds to smooth out. One gun jam was with one round in the chamber and the clip removed which I did just to see if extractor held round tightly with no pressure from the clip below. After shooting for years I've always enjoyed analyzing a problem myself to some extent to see if I can determine where the problem might lie rather than just shipping it off each time I have an issue. Over the years this has prevented much more down time or multiple sendbacks to try one thing then another. I have messed up very few things and nothing other than minor stuff and had spare parts to toy with but majority of the time I either have a good idea or fix it myself. Most IPSC folks who shoot for years wind up doing a lot of tuning themselves after a while for the same reason. I hope that my gun is an extreme case of the unable to eject a full or 15 rd clip. I know a full clip will always be harder to eject, but needing to use 2 hands and 2 thumbs pressure to eject any clip is incorrect full or not. Please post here only if have this problem with the XDM since the XD is not the same gun and likely did not have ability to carry 16 rds w/standard clip. I should have the XDM in a week to 2 and will give an update. I've also heard the front sight is very hard to replace front sight with fiber optic and compared to most 1911's is near impossible to do at home w/punch. Anyone heard of this? Crap should have had SA do it while they had the gun.

July 18, 2008, 04:43 PM	#22
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	Clip/Mag Release So you guys know I had already been on phone with SA Custom shop prior to my tinkering and worked out to return the gun for them to look at. SA said "we have noticed a full clip is a little harder to eject than we would like" just like I thought they would and I mentioned a full clip in mine is near impossible with one hand/thumb. I told them I'd been shooting IPSC for years including occasional glocks which never were this hard. They repair guy said he could tool the ejector in the gun to make it reasonable without sacrificing ability to retain the mag. Realize that I'm not to concerned about the gun jams since I feel any gun should have a few hundred rounds to smooth out. One gun jam was with one round in the chamber and the clip removed which I did just to see if extractor held round tightly with no pressure from the clip below. After shooting for years I've always enjoyed analyzing a problem myself to some extent to see if I can determine where the problem might lie rather than just shipping it off each time I have an issue. Over the years this has prevented much more down time or multiple sendbacks to try one thing then another. I have messed up very few things and nothing other than minor stuff and had spare parts to toy with but majority of the time I either have a good idea or fix it myself. Most IPSC folks who shoot for years wind up doing a lot of tuning themselves after a while for the same reason. I hope that my gun is an extreme case of the unable to eject a full or 15 rd clip. I know a full clip will always be harder to eject, but needing to use 2 hands and 2 thumbs pressure to eject any clip is incorrect full or not. Please post here only if have this problem with the XDM since the XD is not the same gun and likely did not have ability to carry 16 rds w/standard clip. I should have the XDM in a week to 2 and will give an update. I've also heard the front sight is very hard to replace front sight with fiber optic and compared to most 1911's is near impossible to do at home w/punch. Anyone heard of this? Crap should have had SA do it while they had the gun.

July 20, 2008, 01:28 PM	#24
WVfishguy Senior Member Join Date: June 21, 2007 Location: Huntington, WV Posts: 662	I know I'm a few days late on this thread, but I did not want to post until I did my own research. I recently bought an XDM in .40. I've only fired 100 rounds out of it. I was going to write a short range report, but my experience with the XDM is so similar to that of AirForce 2, there's really no point in rehashing everything he wrote. My XDM had the same issue with releasing the mag with 16 rounds; it was very difficult to get the mag to drop. I have very strong (but arthritic) fingers, but I really had to work to get the mag out. However, each time I worked the mag release button, it got easier. After only 10 times, it became much easier to release a full mag. After about 15-20 releases, it is now quite acceptable. This problem, at least in MY gun, was simply a "break-in period" issue. This is the first time I've seen a magazine so hard to release. I filled my other semi-autos to capacity to see if their mags were hard to eject. None were. The other pistols are: Bersa Thunder .40, 13 round Walther PPS, (9mm) 8 round Steyr M40-A1, 12 and 10 round Smith & Wesson SW40GVE, 14 rounds Bersa 380, Series 95, 8 round Walther P99 AS, (.40 S&W) 12 round Afterthought: I hope I don't make anyone mad (I probably will ) but I'm developing a bad habit of saying "clip" when I mean "magazine." If you're are around a bunch of gun people, they WILL make fun of you.

August 23, 2008, 11:09 AM	#25
AirForce2 Member Join Date: June 23, 2008 Posts: 38	mag eject fixed Got the gun back from springfield pretty quick but been to busy to post. The mag eject problem has gone away and the xdm acts as it should now. I talked to the tech that worked on it and asked him if only worked on mag eject connect/disconnet ledge and he said that was all he did. The upward pressure to install the mag was also reduced to a normal level. I initially thought maybe they had thinner springs in mags but just the work on the mag eject angle fixed both the "hard to eject full mag" and also "hard reloading a full mag" problem. Good job by springfield. I was worried since the last time I shot a springfield "out of country design" was in early 90's with a P-9 .40 which broke slidestops, extractor housing pins, and made my brass once fire only since the barrells were not fully supported. I loved the handling of the P-9, now EAA witness style but after talking with a VP and seeing forum discussions feel EAA is not good at promoting their gun and gave me no comfort in product reliability or customer service so I went to springfield. I also has SA install the Dawson adjustable front/rear fiber optic sights and looks good, but the front sight is real snaggy out of the holster.